MBB: NESCAC

[ephoops]

Tom Parker reloads - Hixon pulls the trigger.

AMHERST "reloads" b/c of many reasons other than Hixon and Tom.

And those reasons are...?

[hoopsfan5]

Long time Amherst Fan
First time poster
Amherst loses 5 seniors this year.  Seems like they'd probably try and get at least 5 to replace them.
Is the complete list of recruits available. 
So far we've heard of
Pierce Edwards
Matt Edwards
Rashard Bryant
Willy Workman
Pete Kasilia

which ones of these will be projected as immediate contributors?  Can any of these guys come in and play right away?

[nescac1]

Plus sort-of recruit PG Spencer Noon (discussed at length, primarily a soccer recruit, may try to play hoops as well, but folks are skeptical about that).  And maybe another?

If you go based on the rankings on that New England site, which are far from perfect but seem to be a somewhat-fair rough proxy, Kasilia is the most likely guy to contribute immediately, as he is ranked above what Jeff Holmes was last year.   Workman may be the wild-card given that he was totally off the radar due to injury, but Hixon sounds pretty high on him. 

[formerbant10]

I'm hoping the 3 Suffield kids ranked quite low even by d3 standards on newenglandrecruiting report, plus this new 'cagey' kid who hadn't played competitive b-ball for 2 years prior to this year are not the end of Hixon's recruiting class.

'03 - Zieja, Faulkner, Fitzsimmons
'04 - Harper, Donovan
'05 - Schiel, Lee
'06 - Bedford, Casnocha
'07 - Wheeler, McLaughlin
'08 - Olson, Hopkins, Jones, Walters (not including Goldsmith b/c he didn't start, and got hurt, but he could have been a star in a shallower class)
'09 - Baskauskas
'10 - Wheeler
'11 - Meehan
'12 - Waller, Holmes (hopefully others)

Corrigan was part of the '05 recruiting class and was very good.

I've heard the twins are very good players....from a very reliable source who saw them play a lot this past summer.  I wouldn't worry too much.

[amh63]

Thanks all for the latest MBB recruits for Amherst.  The latest one was a regular accept vice early decision.  In this year's class, the majority are from New England vice last year's class which were mainly outside the northeast. 

Since the acceptance letters went out March 26, we should be hearing about the recruits for Midd. and Williams soon.  Scanning the NE recruiting services, I see NESCAC recruits for Bates, Trinity, Amherst and of course the large class to arrive at Wesleyan.  The lack of players in New England  for Midd. and Williams means that the recruits are coming in from areas other than NE.

On the discussion of past Amherst recruiting classes, one must remember the players that dropped off the team after the first year.  There was a 6'6" player from Wisconsin when S. Wheeler and DJ Carcieri arrived. Billy Butler, a 6'6"  forward from Brooklyn and Tom Parker's school arrived with Meehan and Bennett.  Ben Kaplan was a good player from Illinois and walked on in his junior year as did Fugett in his first year.  Each year there are players that drop off the team and walk on. 

On the discussion of Midd. replacing Wes. as a member of the Little Three based on athletics, it maybe premature.  The teams at Wes. have improved in many sports (except football) in recent years for both men's and women teams.  Speaking about overall sports sucesses, the final Winter's standings for the Director's Cup came out today.  Amherst, Williams and Midd. are again in the top 7.

[TheHerst2and4]

Agreed on Corrigan, and Tim Jones was a big time contributor to the class of '04's success, so I'm not sure the Batman and Robin theory really works out.
As previously discussed players tend to get stock piled behind good players and often have to wait to show what they can do. It may be too early to tell with the younger classes how many guys are/will be key guys, or "superstars"

[walzy31]

i would like to nominate gabe from wesleyan to the inaugural "seniors who nescac fans will miss the most" team.

he was a mountain of a man. an absolute giant who maneuvered among mere mortals like a bull shark hunting the native mexican children that frollic about in waist-high murky river water. all that crying will do nothing to save you. you will be mercked by the bull shark, the fiercest of all sharks. gabe represented everything that was good about collegiate athletics. he will be missed.

GGK was a gentle giant...a BFG if you will.

[walzy31]

Call me a crazy optimist Frank, but I am holding my breath.  I'd say this year's group of rising seniors is about as talented as the class of 2004.

Geoghegan / Schultz / Rubin aren't all THAT much worse a trio than Coffin / Crotty / Abba, and toss in the depth from a few other solid players in 2010 (especially Timmins-Schiffman), and I'd rate them, in the aggregate, as pretty close in talent.  I guess we'll see next year ...

That's one of the crazier things I have ever read on this board. I'm speechless.

[lefrakenstein]

http://insider.espn.go.com/ncb/recruiting/tracker/player?recruitId=57139&season=2009

I've heard the twins are very good players....from a very reliable source who saw them play a lot this past summer.  I wouldn't worry too much.

This is very good news... thanks!

I do wish we could find a proper 4. Someone along the lines of a Walters or a Dan Wheeler that can both bang down lown and step out to hit the three. I wonder if the larger Edwards twin will be big enough to play that position. I really have no clue who will play the 4 next year, unless its a smaller converted player like Waller or Steve Wheeler.

Love all the centers coming in though. Bryant, Kasilia, Holmes could be monster! Still holding out hope for a late Kurt Bennett surge too... (Although I wish Holmes and Bennett would work on their free throws. If there was ever an opportunity for the revival of the Rick Barry it's Kurt Bennett)

[lefrakenstein]

Call me a crazy optimist Frank, but I am holding my breath.  I'd say this year's group of rising seniors is about as talented as the class of 2004.

Geoghegan / Schultz / Rubin aren't all THAT much worse a trio than Coffin / Crotty / Abba, and toss in the depth from a few other solid players in 2010 (especially Timmins-Schiffman), and I'd rate them, in the aggregate, as pretty close in talent.  I guess we'll see next year ...

That's one of the crazier things I have ever read on this board. I'm speechless.

Yeah, maybe Geohegan/Coffin if big Joe can stay healthy, and maybe Schultz / Abba are in the same ballpark, but Crotty was a nationally recognized player! Rudin isn't even in the same stratosphere! The slight edge to Coffin / Abba over Joe G / Schultz + the difference between a solid contributor and a national all-american = a pretty huge difference!

[nescac1]

OK maybe a slight stretch on the 04/10 comparison, but remember Rubin didn't get a chance to play much until late this year and when he finally did put up strong numbers, Schultz has already been first-team all conference and keeps getting better and Geoghegan if healthy could do big things.  And again, I didn't say equal, my point was that the class of 10 has a lot of talent, plus a few other talented players to boot so it is a little deeper than 04, helping to compensate in the talent differential for the top three.  It is all in the realm of hypothetical but add Folan, Demuth, Kain and Cole to the class of 10, and throw in a healthy Geoghegan, and I think that group could have put up a similar record as juniors.  (Class of 2003 was MUCH stronger than the class of 2009 for the Ephs).  But it is all totally speculative.  If they are healthy and don't win well over 20 games next year and at least make a deep tourney run, I'll obviously have pie in my face. 

As for Amherst, I imagine Waller will play the 4.  Hixon seems to like a perimeter oriented guy at the four who can shoot the 3 anyway (pretty much every guy who played there since Zieja graduated, right?), and Waller is 6'7 so he is certainly tall enough and he'll probably bulk up a little.  Plus they had a few other frosh who were 4's who might get a chance next year. 

[jayhawk]

Stay tuned for another name that is likely coming to Amherst and David Hixson

[frank uible]

In the Williams 2002-2003 team you haven't accounted for DeMuth, Folan, Cole and Kain - all of them good to very good players supplementing Coffin, Crotty, Abba. That team had no soft spots, and its record reflected it. In my view on a typical day it was 15-25 points better than this year's team - and on an atypically weak day it played much closer to a high level than this year's team.

[amh63]

Frank U.,
  I agree, especially about Folan!  I saw him in high school and he was a star on a team that had two div I level players.  He wore purple and white then.  Folan was a sixth man, I recall, in his senior year.  I remember him coming off the bench and scoring 20 + points in a game against Amherst.  His classmate in high school, who followed him to Williams after a year at prep school, was a worst "killer" of Amherst sports.  He was the starting QB for the Eph's football team for three years.  He may have also played BB in high school. 

[ephoops]

...Still holding out hope for a late Kurt Bennett surge too... (Although I wish Holmes and Bennett would work on their free throws. If there was ever an opportunity for the revival of the Rick Barry it's Kurt Bennett)

I recall that Bennett was probably the most hyped recruit in the history of this board when he was coming out of high school...

What are the issues with him???